What Does the Passover Season Mean to You? Part 3

Well, brethren, what does the Passover season mean to you? We've been talking about this the last two sabbaths, the last two sermons I've been here. This really is a very, very meaningful time of year, I think in many respects the most meaningful time of the year from a spiritual perspective. We talked about a number of things that the Passover does mean. First of all, the Passover means that you acknowledge God's deliverance out of slavery and sin. Our own personal deliverance out of slavery and sin, just as surely as God delivered ancient Israel out of Egypt.

Observing the Passover also means that you acknowledge and accept Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, as our Passover sacrifice, as our personal Savior. Observing the Passover means that you realize that you are one of God's first fruits. Certainly, we ought to be extremely grateful and thankful to God for calling us at this time, for opening our minds to His truth, to His way of life. Otherwise, we certainly would not be keeping the Passover. Fourthly, observing the Passover means that you have examined yourself and you see your need for repentance, for forgiveness, and also to overcome in your life, to put sin out of your life.

This is a time of examination. It's a time to look deeply within ourselves. As David said, to see if there is any unclean thing in us and ask God to purge us, to clean us, to make us whole again. The Passover means so much to us.

Fifth, and this is a new point that we'll be talking about today. Observing the Passover means that you have examined yourself and you have forgiven others. You have examined yourself and you have forgiven others. This is a very, very important aspect to keeping the Passover. We need to look at ourselves and we need to make sure that we're not harboring any grudges, any hatred or resentment toward anyone. Now is the time to deal with that and to forgive those who have wronged us. This is a very important aspect of Passover and what it should mean to each and every one of us. Let's turn to Matthew 6 and let's consider what Jesus Christ said on the Sermon on the Mount regarding forgiveness.

And when we keep the Passover, we certainly need to be forgiven ourselves, don't we? We need to know that when we go to Passover that we are forgiven our sins, that our sins are all washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ.

We should not have doubts about that. We should believe in that and have faith in that. In Matthew 6, in the prayer that Christ gave to show us how to pray, in verse 12, he says, And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Speaking to God, to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. So Christ used this as part of this very important prayer that we should be forgiving anyone who has a debt in our lives, in the same manner that we would want God to forgive us our debts. In fact, notice verse 14 and 15. Christ says, If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

So we are forgiven in direct relationship to the willingness that we have to forgive others. This is a very, very important topic this time of year. In Colossians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul talks about the importance of forgiveness. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3. Let's consider what Paul says to each and every one of us. Paul was a very dedicated man of God. Paul called himself the chief of sinners because Paul had actually had true Christians killed. By his word, people were killed, were drug out of their homes and killed because they had accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

So Paul knew that he was in need of forgiveness. He understood this very deeply. Christ struck him down on the road to Damascus and opened his eyes. His eyes were blind. He couldn't see what he was doing. He thought he was killing people thinking he was doing God a service. And that's what the Scripture tells us will happen in the end days as well. That people will kill the true ones of God, thinking that they are doing God a service. Paul was deceived. He was blinded. He had to repent of those sins that he had committed. And he did. And notice what he says in Colossians 3. Colossians 3, verse 8. Colossians 3, verse 8.

And we come out as if resurrected in newness of life to walk differently, to allow Christ to live in us, and to set a proper, godly example.

And it's not easy that Christ is all and in all. Sometimes people say we talk too much about Jesus Christ. Well, the Bible talks an awful lot about Jesus Christ. I really don't think we're talking too much about Jesus Christ. Certainly we ought not forget the Father. Christ came to reveal the Father. And certainly we owe all things to God the Father and Jesus Christ. The Scripture says that Christ is all and in all. The same could be said about the Father. Christ said, My Father and I are one. Verse 12. Therefore, as the elect of God, again he's talking to each and every one of us, as the elect of God, as those who are a part of the firstfruits at this time, holy and beloved put on tender mercies.

Now, this is the way we are to live our lives. You are to be a person of tender mercies. You are to be known by your tenderness, by your mercy, by your kindness, as the Scripture says here, by humility, by meekness, by long suffering, being able to suffer long, being patient, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

You are to be known as the elect by these qualities, by these characteristics. This Passover season, you need to look deeply within your soul and strive to become more like this. Strive to become a kinder person, a more humble person, a more merciful person, a meeker person, one who has greater patience, being able to bear with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, look in the same manner that Christ forgave you.

And what manner did Christ forgive you? Did he not forgive you all things? Are there any sins that Christ has not forgiven you? Of course, we have to repent in order to be forgiven. And I'm going to talk about the difference between the forgiveness of God and the forgiveness that God wants of His people. We can't forgive in the same manner God does, exactly, because only God can forgive sins in that sense.

And only God can cover the sins. Only Christ died for each and every one of us. But there is a forgiveness that God wants from us. And it doesn't necessarily hinge on whether someone's repented. I think we'll see that as we go through this sermon today.

I forgave my father a long, long time ago. My father has not repented to this day. There is a certain type of forgiveness that we all must have toward one another, if we're going to function properly in this world as a true Christian. So bear with me, and we'll discuss this more fully as we go on. Forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. By the way, remember, Christ said, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Those people haven't repented if they don't know to repent. Right? But Christ said to forgive them. And Stephen said to forgive those who were killing him. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. My father really didn't know what he had done in the fullest sense. Surely he knew to some degree what he had done to his family. But he didn't fully understand. God is not calling him at this time. He's in his 80s. I don't think God's going to call him in this life. I suppose there's still a chance. With God, all things are possible.

But so far, there's been no indication that God is calling him at this time. But we forgive others because we know they don't often times understand what they're doing to hurt us. Verse 14, but above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. God is love. God is perfect. And we are to put Christ into our lives. Christ is perfect. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. God looks on our hearts. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body.

And be thankful. We all need to be thankful. And when we have a thankful heart, we'll have a forgiving heart. So, brethren, it's so important that we need to forgive one another. It's important that you let go of anything that you're still holding onto as you approach this Passover season. Hatred or resentment can poison your own life. It can certainly poison a friendship if we hold hatred or resentment toward another person. Brotherly love is a gauge for the true Christian.

Christians are known by the love that they have for each other. That's what the Scripture tells us. It's by our love, one for another. Yes, the Sabbath is important. It is a sign between God and His people. But the Scripture also says, even more importantly, is that a true disciple of Christ will be known by their love, one for another.

And when a person has true love, they'll be keeping the Sabbath if they understand that that's what God wants them to do. So, Christ said His disciples again would be known by the love they have for each other, how we treat each other. How many of us have been immobilized to greater spiritual growth because we bear some kind of hatred or some kind of resentment in the inner recesses of our heart and mind?

Now, I'm not aware of any hatred and resentment that I'm holding at the present time. I'm not aware of it. It may be that there are some there. I know that in the past, though, I have had some resentment in my life. There are certain things that have occurred in the history of my life, fifty-five years here on earth. And there's been a few occasions, probably more than a few, but some that really stand out, where I had to battle my...

I had to fight my attitudes toward a couple of individuals. But with God's help, God allows... He gives us forgiveness. He helps us get over these things. We are not to hold grudges. I saw my grandfather hold a grudge against my father the entire time of his life until his death. And he had some reason to hold a grudge against my father, but it really wasn't healthy for him. And it wasn't healthy for the family to have that grudge.

So it is important that we don't hold on to any grudges that we may have for others. And sometimes, depending on how hurt we are, it's not possible to get rid of all of our hatred and resentment in one fell swoop. Sometimes, I think, God grants that and it happens. But oftentimes it takes time. It takes possibly years. Maybe you won't be able to get over all of your resentment this past over-season.

But be sure and get rid of a good measure of it and keep working on it until you get rid of all of it. Because God looks on our hearts and our hearts need to be clean, not filled with hatred and resentment toward anyone. I hate to say it, but I suppose that even within the Church of God, some people have done what I will call the Passover Shuffle, where when you're lining up to wash people's feet, and if you're not careful, if you're prejudiced, to some degree you may try to avoid getting into a certain position to have to wash someone's feet.

If there's anyone in this congregation that you wouldn't willingly wash their feet, you probably have some prejudice. You have something, not probably, you do have. I mean, there's no question about it. We should be willing to wash anyone's feet. I mean, that's what the Passover is all about. Humbling ourselves. Christ washed Judas' feet, the one who betrayed him.

And again, I don't think many people do that. I mean, I think most of us don't go to that degree to that extent, but I'll pretty much guarantee that some have, because I've seen some very prejudiced people, even within the Church of God. And that's a sad commentary. It's something that they need to repent of, and they need to see.

They need to understand. They're deceived. They don't fully understand. They don't see some of their prejudice, perhaps. Forgiving also isn't easy, depending again on how badly we've been wronged. If someone's been terribly wronged, again, it's very difficult to forgive somebody. It's perhaps one of the most difficult and hardest things for a human being to do. Admitting you're wrong and being willing to forgive, I think, are two of the most difficult things for human beings.

Now, we know that Christ set an example for us. He showed us how we can forgive others. Jesus Christ was like an innocent baby, like a child, who was wronged terribly. He was horribly beaten. There's a book that was entitled, The Day Christ Died. It goes into detail on how Christ was beaten, and how he was tortured, and how he suffered.

There have been movies, The Passion of Christ. There have been movies and plays that have been written, talking about or showing, displaying the kind of beating, the kind of suffering, the kind of shame that was poured upon our Savior, Jesus Christ. He was ridiculed and humiliated by people. He took it... How did he take it? He took it graciously. He took it as a true man of God, as the Son of God. He died a shameful death of execution, of crucifixion. And why did he do it? So that he could see sin for what it really is, or not that he didn't already see sin for what it was. I'm sure he did.

But so that he could die for our sins, that he was willing to pay that penalty for the wages of sin is death. And that's what we all deserve. So he paid that penalty for all of us, and in so doing he expects something of us. He expects us to forgive others, as he has forgiven us. Once upon a time, there was a man who was telling his friend about an argument that he'd had with his wife. He commented, oh, how I hate it! Every time we have an argument, she gets historical. The friend replied, you mean hysterical? No, he insisted, I mean historical. Every time we argue, she drags up everything from the past, and she holds it against me.

Now, I know that's true for women as well as men, men as well as women. We all sometimes get historical. Sometimes it's difficult to really... You know, it's not that we should forget everything. That's not what forgiveness is all about. We're still going to remember the hurts, but we don't necessarily have to bring them up again. If someone has shown a semblance of repentance, at least, and are trying to repent and have repented, or at least seeking repentance, it might be better not to go through a litany of transgressions.

Maybe that would help the person get over it more quickly, if we didn't bring it up all the time. We have to use wisdom when it comes to that. Sometimes we need to be reminded. Sometimes we, especially us men, sometimes we need to be reminded of some of the things that we've done, because maybe we're being... You know, we are being careless in how we treat our wives, and we need to be more repentant of the things that we've done to hurt our relationships.

But thankfully, we are to forgive others as Christ forgave us, and we know that Christ's forgiveness is truly powerful. And we need to grow together as God's people, learning what true repentance is all about, what real forgiveness is all about. Let's go to a few other verses. Let's go to Mark 11. Mark 11, verses 24-26. Christ says, But He will answer your prayers. Verse 25, It doesn't say that it has to be upon repentance that we forgive somebody. If you have anything against anyone... That sounds, you know, pretty complete, doesn't it?

Anything against anyone. Forgive Him that your Father in Heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses. Anything against anyone. Now, in Matthew 18, and of course this is the chapter that we recognize as the one that talks about going to your brother. If you have something against your brother, go to him. Work these things out. Seek reconciliation. It takes two people to reconcile. It takes two hearts that are willing. Number one, to listen. And number two, to forgive.

To be repentant as well. If you're going to have really true reconciliation, there needs to be a listening to what's being said. There needs to be an acknowledgement of any wrongs that have been committed. There needs to be a true repentance.

And only then will there be reconciliation. There has to be forgiveness, too, that comes along. And if somebody has something against someone, and the person doesn't listen, then the process stops. Now, if they won't consider what it is that the person is saying, if a person does listen, and he deems that what this person is saying is certainly true, then he is bound to repent of the wrong that he's committed. If he listens and he doesn't believe that the person is accurate in whatever it is they bring to him, then he has to humbly go before God and assess the situation, whether or not he was truly at fault. And if at fault, then certainly again, repentance, and then there should be forgiveness. But if any of the steps are left out, there won't be reconciliation. And that causes big problems, doesn't it, when we don't reconcile with one another? When there isn't repentance, when there isn't forgiveness, when there isn't acknowledgement of one's sins, when there isn't a willingness to change and to do the right thing. In Matthew 18, beginning in verse 22, well, let's read verse 21. Then Peter came to him to Christ and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him. Up to seven times? Peter thought he was being very gracious. Seven times. You know, that's a long... that's a lot. Seven times to, you know, if someone comes and I forgive him, if he sins against me and I forgive him, seven times is surely adequate, right? That's more than adequate. Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Now, of course, for you mathematicians, that's 490 times. That's a lot of times. But I don't think Christ even meant to stop there. I think he meant it's ongoing.

Notice the parable it follows. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me. Be long suffering. Put up with me. Have patience and I will pay you all.

Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion.

He released him and he forgave him the debt. It was very magnanimous, very generous. Forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. Now this is a very, very tiny amount compared to what this man owed. It was a tremendously large amount that this other man owed. And he had a servant who owed him a pittance in comparison. And he laid hands on him and he took him by the throat, probably with both hands, not just one. He took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe. A lot of intensity in his voice, threatenings and murder in his voice. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him in the same manner that he had begged his boss, his master. He begged him, saying, Have patience with me and I will pay you all. Same exact wording.

And he would not. He would not. He did not have compassion. He did not forgive. You would think that, surely, since he was forgiven such a huge debt, that he would forgive this debt from one of his fellow men. But he would not and he went and he threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. Pretty hard to pay the debt when you're in prison, I would think. So when his fellow servant saw what had been done, they were very grieved. You would be grieved, too, wouldn't you? You would be full of...

I don't know if anger is the right word, but yeah, you would be righteous indignation. If you knew what had happened, you'd be righteously indignant. And they were grieved and they came and they told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry, and he delivered him to the torturers.

See, I think Christ wants to really help us get the point here. We will be forgiven in the same manner as we forgive others. We're going to be treated in the same way that we treat others. And if we treat others without compassion, then God is going to be angry.

His master was angry and he delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

So my Heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. That's pretty powerful, isn't it? Forgiveness has a lot to do with Passover.

We all need to come to grips with any resentment, hatred or grudges that we may still be harboring.

I already mentioned that a great transformation had taken place in my life, or I didn't actually refer to it this way, but when I forgave my father, because there was a time as a teenager that if I didn't hate him, it was close.

It was bordering on hatred. My father was an alcoholic. I think I've shared that with most everyone here in the past. And he just had a lot of issues. And it affected our family a great deal, it affected my mother a great deal. And so it was difficult, but when God called me, he gave me a spirit of forgiveness. God's spirit is a spirit of forgiveness. Now, you have to allow that spirit to work in you. You have to stir it up in order to really forgive. But I know the power of forgiveness. I've felt it first-hand. And I have a pretty good relationship with my father now, even though he still hasn't repented, and he still does things that are exasperating, to say the least. But overall, by the way, my dad's doing well. He's still living with my saint of his sister. But actually, my dad's been doing remarkably well. You know, he was in the hospital a year ago? I think it was a year ago. He was in the hospital, and I went to Florida to visit him. And he was a mess at that time. He was actually in hospital because of some things that he had done, that he was in a psych ward kind of a thing. And we put him in a nursing home for a while, and they got him on some medication that seemed to really work. And he's been really good since then. My sister has said he's even been sweet at times. That's pretty miraculous. And for this long of a time. So I'm truly grateful to God. I believe he certainly answered your prayers, my prayers, my sister's prayers, and many prayers. Because I can't tell you how nice it is not to have that burden. I mean, it's just been wonderful that he's been doing well. I'm grateful to God for His sake that he's been doing so well. He's with some grandchildren, and he's much easier to get along with right now, and hopefully he'll stay that way.

But anyway, I've witnessed first had the spirit of forgiveness, and it is a powerful, powerful spirit. And I remember being so grateful that God was forgiving me all my sins. And I was a pretty selfish person, an 18-year-old male. I'd say, we've got to be among the most selfish 18-year-old males. So I was selfish, and I was very, very grateful that God was forgiving my sins. And I think that helped me to forgive my father's sins. Now, I can't forgive in the same way that God can forgive. God can forgive my sins through the blood of Christ. I can forgive my father by no longer harboring hatred or resentment. That's how we forgive human beings, by not harboring hatred or resentment.

If there's still hatred and resentment, then we probably really haven't forgiven very well. We may think we have, but by their fruits you'll know. So if there's still a lot of hatred and resentment, and I know that certain things are much harder than others to forgive. Depending on how you've been wronged, and the length of time you've been wronged, and who did it, and on and on it goes, it can be very, very difficult to forgive, and it doesn't always happen immediately. In my case, it happened basically immediately. It was just a wonderful gift. But there were others... there were a few other instances in my life. I can't really think of many, because there haven't been many. But there's one that stands out where it was harder for me. It took a little bit longer. It took months to get over the resentment of being wronged.

So God is patient, but He does want us to carefully look at ourselves and analyze ourselves and see if there's anything unclean. Hatred and resentment is unclean. We need to get it out.

The Greek word for forgive means primarily to send forth. It means to send away. For us, it means to send away the anger. It means to send away the resentment. To send away the animosity and the hatred towards another human being. That is to forgive someone. I'd like to read a parable from a book, and this is an excellent book. It's called Forgive to Live. And if you are having any trouble with forgiveness, this book is a goldmine in helping you get through it. Forgive to Live is an excellent book. It's written by Dr. Dick Tibbetts. It was written in 2006. It's a fairly recent book. But in the book, he has what he calls a parable of forgiveness. I'd like to read it to you.

A parable about forgiveness. Life is hard in Dura. Countless times each day the lament was heard from the townspeople, and for good reason. Through the years, Dura had become literally a very hard place to live. Rocks covered the landscape, making it impossible to grow flowers or jog in the park. There were rocks everywhere. They lay everywhere in the land. How did this come to be? Well, as the tragic story goes, an evil sorcerer cast his powerful spell upon the town. Through your eyes you will not see a life of joy or hope or glee. Through your mouth, where curses flock, every angry word shall turn into a rock.

Whenever someone spoke an unkind or hurtful word, it instantly became a hot rock. Not just a rock, but a hot rock. Like everyone in Dura, Kos, and that's K-A-A-S, and I have no idea why he would pick such a name, but Kos was the person's name. I guess so no one else would have that name. Kos had too often been the victim of unkind and hurtful words. Rocks of all sizes and shapes had pelted him.

And also, like everyone else in Dura, Kos never felt content to merely watch those rocks fall to the ground. How could he? They had hurt too much when they struck him. That's why Kos developed the habit of keeping a rock or two in his hands. If the occasion presented itself, he could throw one back at the person who had caused him pain. However ugly that strategy might sound, no one ever confronted Kos about his behavior because everyone in Dura did the very same thing.

Oh, they all knew from experience that holding a hot rock would blister their hands, but they believed the pain would be worth it once they got the opportunity someday to even the score by throwing back a rock at the one who had hurt them. When a rock began to cool, as it always did, the people of Dura took it to the center of town where an enormous furnace named Grievance stood.

There they could heat up their rock until it once more glowed fiery red, and as it was warming, they told each other their sorrowful tales. It's not my fault that my hands are burned. Each would say it's their fault. They threw the rock first. I'm just holding it so that someday I can throw it back. One day, however, Kos and the other people of Dura got the shock of their lives.

A robust, cheerful man with compassion in his eyes came striding into town declaring that none of the townspeople had to live in misery any longer. My name's Salah. S-A-L-A. Salah, he announced. And I want you to know that you can be free of those rocks you carry around wherever you go. What you need is forgiveness. You don't have to keep living like you've been living. Some of the townspeople sneered, while others gasped or stared blankly ahead. Could there really be a better life? Impossible. Salah ignored the jeers and continued.

Simply put, forgiveness is learning how to drop your rocks. Forgiveness is learning how to drop your rocks. You don't have to collect them, carry them, be burdened by them, heat them, or throw them. In fact, I guarantee that if you drop them, your whole life will improve. Your hands will start to heal. And you'll have the time and the energy to do the fun things you've always wanted to do, but never believed you could. It can't be that simple, Koss thought. How could it possibly work?

He had to speak out. Now hold on, Mr. Koss began. You mean to tell me that if someone throws a rock at me, I can't throw it back? That's not fair. Why should I let the other guy off the hook? He needs to be punished. No, sir. Your way won't work. And I'm not falling for it. With that, Koss spun on his heels and hustled away as fast as he could from Salah, and is too good to be true words. In his headlong retreat, however, Koss failed to notice that a few in the crowd had already decided to give Salah's counsel a try.

They dropped their rocks and immediately noticed something truly remarkable. The scars on their hands, caused by carrying the hot rocks for so many years, began to heal. These people had always worried that forgiving would be letting their offenders off the hook. But they learned dropping their rocks actually made their own lives better. Soon the people of Dura were throwing fewer rocks, so fewer rocks came hurling back at them.

In fact, in some yards, the rocks were so scarce that flowers began to break through the newly exposed ground. Who would have believed that life's burdens could be so easily removed by simply dropping the rock? Do you have any rocks that you need to drop?

If you do, then go to God and He will help you drop them. He will help you forgive others. We've been going through some difficult times. Some of you have had some friends that have hurt you in certain ways, and maybe you have hurt your friends in certain ways. Friends in the Church. We need to drop the rocks. We need to forgive one another. Whatever it is, we believe we need to... If they've hurt us in some ways, then we need to try to reconcile with them. We need to try to reconcile, to seek reconciliation, to try to understand why people do what they do. Oftentimes, it's not because they want to hurt anyone. Usually, it isn't because they want to hurt anyone. But they're doing what they believe they should do, what they believe is right to do, what they're convicted to do. Even though we may believe they're wrong, if they're sincere, and certainly they are sincere, then we need to consider that and be gracious. Be gracious to them. We all need to be more gracious. So, brethren, I would encourage you to be more gracious toward others, to be more forgiving. There is tremendous power in forgiveness, forgiving one another. So, if you've been harboring some resentment towards some friends who have hurt you in certain ways, now's the time to get over it. Now's the time to seek reconciliation, to seek understanding, and try to just make amends for anything that we can possibly make amends for. In Luke 6, Christ talks a lot about loving even our enemies. I think we need to rehearse that now and go back and consider that Christ said to love even your enemies, let alone your friends.

Luke 6. Luke 6. We'll start reading in verse 27. Luke 6.

Verse 27. Luke 6 verse 27.

Christ says, But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

Pray for those who spitefully use you, bless those who curse you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also, and from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. A tunic was to help people stay warm in cold winter times, and to give up your tunic could even jeopardize your own life. That's what Christ is telling us we should do. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good, I think that's really true. I mean, there can be some horrible sinners out there. There can be murderers, rapists, and other people that actually are nice to other people.

I mean, there are certain people in their family that they probably don't treat that way.

Their mother, maybe? Who knows? I don't know. But again, the point Christ is making is that we even should love our enemies. And there's not a great deal of credit in loving those who already love you. Verse 33, and if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return.

And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and evil.

He is kind to the unthankful and the evil. God's been very kind to the unthankful and the evil. He's been very long-suffering, hasn't he? He's put up with sin for almost 6,000 years now. Now, that seems like a long time for us. In some ways, it's not as long for him. But in many other ways, it's very long because of the suffering that he sees happening to his people, all of us.

So God is very patient with sinners, with evil.

And we ought to be the same way.

So love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. God is thankful even to the unthankful and the evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. And then he goes on to give instruction about judging or condemning others. Judge not or condemn not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. When he's talking about judging someone harshly or condemning them, we are not to judge people harshly or condemn them. We are to judge righteous judgment. We should be able to call sin a sin and not make excuses for our sins or anyone else's sin, because sin is wrong and we are to learn to abhor sin, to hate sin.

Forgive and you will be forgiven. Given it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. And he spoke a parable to them, can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.

We are to be like our teacher, Jesus the Christ, who is our teacher. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? It's much easier for us to see a little bit of sin in someone else than it is to see a lot of sin in ourselves.

That's a human trait. It's easier to see a little bit of sin in someone else than it is to see a lot of sin in our own life.

How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite. First, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye. For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. And we will know by the fruits. So we are to judge righteous judgment, but, brethren, we are to be forgiving people. If we want to be forgiven ourselves, then that's how we must live. We need to even learn to love our enemies. There is another powerful couple of verses in Luke 17 that speak to the attitude that we must have. Luke 17, verse 1, Then he said to his disciples, It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come. It is impossible that offenses aren't going to happen. As long as we are human, there will be offenses. There will be things that we do to offend others. There will be things that others do to offend us. But woe to him through whom they do come. There is a responsibility not to cause offense. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves if your brother sins against you. Rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him. Now, obviously, some people would wonder if the man really repented, wouldn't they?

If he comes back seven times in the same day, and claims to be repentant, we would wonder. I think the point is, we are to forgive if someone even tries to meet us partway. As I already showed, the Scriptures show that we are to forgive those who don't even know any better. Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. And Stephen said, forgive them they know not what they do.

If someone comes to you seven times in the same day and offends you and sins against you, but then they show some little bit of repentance, continue to forgive them.

Forgiveness is a process. Forgiveness does not eliminate our memories. It doesn't wipe out all of our brain cells. If we've been hurt, we've been hurt. And that's not easy to forget.

Forgiveness surely does not mean that what a person did is okay. Just because what my Father did wasn't okay, what He did to hurt our family wasn't okay. It shouldn't have been done.

Forgiveness doesn't mean that you excuse wrong behavior, and you make excuses for the person.

Forgiveness doesn't mean that you should never talk about a problem either. Say you forgive someone like my Dad. If there's any way I can still try to get through to Him respectfully, then it's okay to do that, to talk about it, to try to make things better. Forgiveness is a process. And obviously, we have to be careful.

Does forgiveness of a person mean we place complete trust in that person? Of course not. It would be foolish to do that. We don't put complete trust in Him. In fact, the Scripture says, trust no man. For in them is no help. Only if they're walking in Christ, only if they're following Christ's example, can we put our trust in a man. We have to be careful when it comes to men. With many problems or sins, such as poor money management, gossip, sexual sins, lying, stealing, to name just a few, we need to see a track record of overcoming before even considering that a person is trustworthy. So we take precautions. If someone has shown themselves to be untrustworthy, we don't consider them otherwise until they've proven otherwise. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't forgive them, that we don't give them the benefit of the doubt, that we don't wish the best for them, that they will change and that they have repented. To a large degree, we can still be understanding, we can be forgiving, we can be encouraging to people. There have been people that have done a lot of bad things that come amongst us. I mean, we've all done a lot of bad things. I mean, I've done a lot of what I would consider bad things. I mean, maybe not to the degree that some have gone, but certainly in the spirit of the law, we've all sinned.

Christ said, if you harbor hatred or resentment towards someone, you've murdered them. You've murdered them in your heart. And we've all done that. We've all had some kind of resentment or hatred that we've had to deal with.

So we've all done bad things.

But that being said, we need to be wise when it comes to, not forgiveness so much, but trustworthiness. Okay? We have to use wisdom when it comes to that. Just because someone shows up at church doesn't mean that they've repented of everything. And it doesn't mean they're trustworthy. They have to prove that over time.

I want to just read a couple of things from this book, Forgive to Live. He talks about how we often have what he calls a grievance story. You know, when you have a grievance against someone, you have a grievance story. How does this story first take shape? Number one, you suffer some kind of wrong. Something happened to you that you don't like. Maybe it was an unkind comment. Perhaps it was a broken promise or an unexpected loss. Whatever it was, you think of it as unfair.

So you suffer some kind of wrong, first of all. Then you attach a specific interpretation to the event. From your perception, you look at it a certain way. As you feel the hurt, resentment will start to well up inside you, and you begin to blame the offender for how you feel. This was no accident, you think. She did this deliberately, and he doesn't even care.

The offense becomes more almost secondary to the meaning that you assign to it. Namely, that the person intended to hurt you. So now you go another step, and you decide that it was intentional.

It was intentional. It might not have been intentional. But when we decide that it was intentional, we've gone a step further in shaping our grievance story. So then, number three, you take the offense personally.

Whatever your loss, you feel it deeply. That person hurt a vital aspect of your life. Grievance stories always involve things that you consider very important. They rarely concern trivial matters to you, anyway. They're not trivial to you. Naturally, then, you feel the pain deeply, but you take it one step further. In fact, you begin to exaggerate the personal nature of the offense. He targeted me! Not only was it intentional, but he actually targeted me. And he knew exactly what he was doing to me and how much it would hurt.

As you continue to ponder the hurtful incident, you increasingly emphasize its personal aspect. It wasn't merely an impersonal offense that somehow managed to injure you, an innocent bystander. No, it was a deliberate attack. It was a planned assault. It was a vindictive mugging intentionally directed at you.

Number four, you retell the story to yourself and to others.

You retell the story to yourself and to others. You repeat the story again and again, in all kinds of settings and to all sorts of people. You also continually rehearse the story in your head. By repeatedly telling and retelling the story, you try to make some sense of the unjust event. You try to explain it, to dissect it, to lay bare the evil motivations and wicked forces behind the hurt that you're suffering. And exactly how long do you keep the story alive, repeating it to others and to yourself? Well, you keep rehearsing it either until the offender changes and makes things right or until justice is served.

Or, I might add, or you remove yourself from the situation. I think there's a third thing that can happen. You remove yourself from the situation. In other words, you keep repeating the story until the score gets evened, the books get balanced, and life becomes fair once more. Some people escape from problems. They don't continue to work through the problem. They remove themselves from what they consider the problem. It makes it easier for them, and they're happier. There's no doubt about it. They're happier. Things look better. They get on with their lives. That's how sometimes we cope with things. It's not the best way, but that's sometimes how we do it. Until then, the story lives on, and most people's story lives on much longer than is necessary or even helpful. Sadly, the story stays with some folks an entire lifetime. So we develop a grievance story, and then we cling to it.

Despite popular opinion, time does not heal all wounds. Each time you mentally rehearse your grievance story, you reopen the old wound. You remain stuck in that story, and that same old painful script continues to guide your whole life. In fact, your story could have you suffering as long as you live. When you refuse to forgive, you are in effect handcuffing yourself to the person who offended you to a person you may not even like. And you know the worst thing about that, while you wait for that person to unlock the cuffs, you are holding the key in your own hands. The truth is, only you can set yourself free, and you do that by forgiving. Forgiveness may feel like you're letting the other person off the hook, but in reality, you're letting yourself off the hook.

Think about the Drop the Rock story, the parable that we read earlier. Unforgiveness is like carrying around a red-hot rock with the intention of throwing it at the person who caused you the hurt. But as you wait, and many folks wait for a very long time, the sizzling rock burns and scars your hand. Wouldn't it be wiser just to let the rock fall to the ground? Forgiveness is the skill of letting go. After all, as Confucius wisely observed, to be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. And dwell upon it, I would add. To be wronged is nothing. You can get over being wrong if you don't dwell on that.

And then he goes on to talk about how nursing a grudge takes lots of energy.

He goes through the elements of a grievance story. Number one, I see my story as reality. Even though it may not be completely reality, I see it as reality. Number two, someone else controls my story. Someone else is to blame. They control my story. He talks about how we should move toward the truth and realize that most grievance stories are not tales of reality. They're half-truths. They're not complete truths. And he talks about that. Your grievance story supports evil motives that you cannot verify. Evil motives that you cannot verify.

So you assume someone's got an evil motive. That's why they did what they did, or that's why they feel the way they do. Or that's why they have a different opinion as to how certain things should be done. This is really an excellent book. I would highly recommend it. It really has some excellent points. It's been very helpful to me. And I think it would be helpful to you as well. My wife read this book a number of years, three or four years ago. She got it, and it helped her a great deal as well. So, brethren, the Passover season truly is the most meaningful time of the year. It really is. Even though we love the Feast of Tabernacles and getting away and going and enjoying and considering the future and the Kingdom of God, that's all wonderful. Right now, in many ways, this is the most important time of the year. It's the time when we examine ourselves. It's the time when we look introspectively and we admit where we've been wrong. And we've all been wrong. We've all done things that we need to repent of.

This is a very meaningful time of the year. So let's all draw close to God the Father and Jesus Christ as the Passover approaches. Again, let's consider the principles that we talked about in these three sermons. We are going to conclude this series of sermons today.

Number one, Passover means that we acknowledge God's deliverance out of slavery and sin. It means we acknowledge and accept Christ as the Lamb of God and our personal Savior. It means that we are one of God's firstfruits. And we realize that. We recognize that. It means that we have examined ourselves and we see a real need for repentance, for forgiveness, and also for overcoming.

And number five, observing the Passover means that you have examined yourself and you have forgiven others. So, brethren, what does the Passover mean to you?